crystal lantern chandelier in liberty of london's west atrium.
"each of the lanterns in the west atrium chandelier appears to hangs from a set of chains, each of which is in a different style but all of which return to a single ring to the side. the lanterns, chains and light ball clusters at the centre of each lantern hang from individual stainless steel wires. the lanterns and chains are therefore outlines of the shapes they represent and are crafted in varying degrees of detail.
each of the chains and lanterns are subtly rotated with respect to each other so no element hangs precicely square within the space. the shapes are mapped onto a grid of wires in a dense triangular pattern. this means that the wires, which are of varying thicknesses tend to blur into a grey cloud rather like a rainfall.
none of the chain links actually touch, maintaining a feeling of lightness, despite their extent. the feeling of lightness is further enhanced by gentle movements in the chandelier caused by the air currents within the atrium. however the illusion of substance is maintained by the outlines of the chains being precisely mapped on to the catenary shapes into which they would fall were they to be real chains.
in terms of raw statistics: the chandelier weighs 350kg, spans 8.5 metres vertically and 5.5 metres by 3.5 metres across. it is made of 42,000 components comprising lead-crystal, acrylic, stainless steel and aluminium, with highly energy efficient and long lived led light change units providing a continually shifting colour spectrum."